🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the country's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the path that the party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of considered, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has drawn an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic political insider, he had married a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd